mamb

have a theory: If women didn’t fib to their husbands, I Love Lucy never could have existed. The loose-with-the-truth, always-in-a-jam redhead lied to her husband, Ricky, about everything from how much she paid for her hats to the ploys she and Ethel devised to meet certain celebrities.

As a marital strategist, Lucy was on to something. Though the Ten Commandments are definitive on the topic of lying, you will notice there is nothing in the marriage vows, at least not in so many words, that precludes occasional straying from the straight and factual. It’s a good thing too. Just as a car needs gas to run, I think the best marriages hum along very nicely on love, caring, consideration, mutual respect, and the well-timed whopper.

Of course, we’re not talking about the sort of lies that would guarantee you a chat with Sally Jessy. In